EVENTS IN SEPTEMBER 2019. A useful shortlist.

Exactly a year ago we began our CAPITAL R event shortlist series, warning people not to lose their minds in September. Now Riga is vibrating again - the school's back in town, so are the people on streets. And not just the everyday locals, mums and dads, and ex-vacationers. It's also full with freshmen from, probably, all over the country and world. Just recently moved? Riga, or maybe Tallinn or Vilnius, or elsewhere in the Baltics? Already looking for things to do? This might be the first-ever event shortlist tailored for your arrival or the first returning from the long-deserved summer break.

INFECTION DISEASES IN SOVIET POSTERS

When: until 11 SeptemberWhere:Paula Stradiņa medicīnas vēstures muzejsHow much: €
This might seem like a very weird suggestion to visit, but you have to start somewhere, but it says that always with something nice. Despite the Pauls Stradiņš Museum for History of Medicine being one of the only great museums left behind in the XX century stagnation, they always manage to surprise with weird, eerie and out-of-this-world thematic exhibitions. What's best - each one of them, apart from idiosyncratic permanent exhibits, are a must-see. Also this one, displaying posters only in Latvian and Russian, is still worth seeing for multiple qualities. And, if you don't believe looking at posters in a foreign language isn't interesting at all, the museum possesses a wast collection of health posters in Chinese. And they are still entertaining and even informative without any comprehension!Web

VALLEY OF THE STRANGE

When: until 28 SeptemberWhere:ISSP galleryHow much: free entrance
Valley of the Strange highlights six emerging Pan-European artists — José Alves, Cihad Caner, Federico Ciamei, Ela Polkowska, Rocco Venezia and Ana Zibelnik — who use photography to explore the boundaries of time and the disruption of the ordinary. The exhibition considers the role of the image in navigating past and present, while questioning how photography and film can defamiliarize our everyday encounters with the world. The works live in the hyper-real — zooming in and focusing on our innermost fears — blurring truth and fiction, and everything else in between. Nostalgia, superstition, and the ephemeral coalesce to form an unsettling tension. Far from avoiding the uncomfortable, these artists relish it, embracing moments both typical and deeply alienating: an exposed eyeball, cracked glass, a haunting cry. It is specifically in these seconds of uncertainty and trepidation that our rich sensation of life is finally awakened.FacebookWeb

INTA RUKAUnder the same sky

When: until 26 OctoberWhere:Mūkusalas mākslas salonsHow much: free entrance
"Inta
Ruka (1958) is one of the internationally best-known Latvian
photographers ever. She consistently works in black-and-white
photography and
the genre of the portrait, focusing on residents of specific
territories and their life stories. The exhibition consists of
photographic portraits and the life stories of the people portrayed,
which were made and recorded in Balvi and its vicinity in summers over
the course of three years. Inta Ruka's photographs show the tellers of
these subjective stories on the background of the environment and
landscape in which they live. It is a history witnessed and told by
residents of Latvia, covering the period from World War II to the wave
of emigration in recent decades."Web

BALTIC SEA FORUM FOR DOCUMENTARIES

When: 3 - 8 SeptemberWhere:K SunsHow much: €
"This international event for professional documentary filmmakers is the only one of its kind in the Baltics and is held in high regard throughout Eastern Europe. Every year, the BSD gathers over 100 professional filmmakers from the Baltic Sea region, as well as from Eastern and Central Europe. Participating in the forum is an invaluable way for filmmakers to find funding for the production of their projects and to further ensure that their films reach a wide audience across Europe. In addition to the public pitching session, the forum holds preparatory workshop and seminars that is open to not just BSD participants, but also to students and representatives of the Latvian film scene. Apart from the professional activities, a programme of the highest quality documentaries is offered to the general public in Riga and the largest Latvian cities."FacebookWeb

HOMO NOVUS

When: 5 - 13 SeptemberWhere: various locationsHow much: €€
"How does the world sound when the prevailing noise and voices become calm? What stories are written in the faces of Ukrainian women encountered in the streets of Northern Italy? What happens, when people abandon the landscape and new relationships between objects appear? What do the WWI Museum in Ypres and the Louvre Abu Dhabi have in common?
The programme of the International Festival of Contemporary Theatre Homo Novus urges to disclose the surface of the reality to reveal what’s beyond. The Festival’s 15th edition invites you to celebrate the new theatre, jointly build new worlds to be experienced by one’s heart, body and mind, and stand for the freedom to create, watch and discuss art – a fragile privilege that is neither universal, nor self-evident."FacebookTickets Web

BALTĀ NAKTS

When: 7 SeptemberWhere: various locationsHow much: free entrance
For the 14th year the contemporary culture forum "White Night" will be offering more than 50 various art, urban and culture events during the evening and night of 7 September. The "White Night" has become an essential part of Riga’s cultural calendar, include art pieces, concerts, installations and performances in urban environment, exhibitions, multimedia projects, poetry readings and movie programmes. Dozens of private initiatives will add up to the programme organised by art galleries, cafés, art and culture studies and other active inhabitants of Riga.
The White Night (Nuit Blanche) tradition was started in 2002 in Paris and it spread like a positive epidemic to Brussels, Rome and Madrid, with Riga as one of the early adopters, too.Web

STREET ART MONTH

When: 7 - 28 SeptemberWhere:Tallinas ielas kvartālsHow much: free entrance
"Three events dedicated to street art will take place in one of the hypest urban spots in Riga that is full with murals already. On 7th September Urban Poetry'19 including street art slam, spoken word, exhibitions and other cultural activities will take place. On 21st September a masterclass and afterparty of 3D Street Art by Victor Splash will be organized. Finally, on 28th September the grand opening of a new 3D mural on one of the buildings at the creative quarters by Victor Splash will be held, including public lectures of history, trends and socio-cultural context of street art."

SHORTPARIS

When: 11 SeptemberWhere:Melnā PiektdienaHow much: €€ - €€€
After a sold out concert, Shortparis, the Russia's newest underground experimental and national-romanticist dance band are returning to Riga! Yes, the songs are in Russian, but that hasn't been a problem for the band to gain following between the younger generations particularly. This is the most contemporary music one can get out from the underground Russia.Tickets

GLOBAL CLIMATE STRIKE

When: 20 SeptemberWhere: follow information on Fridays For Future Latvia Facebook pageHow much: free participation
The global climate strike on 20 September also claims to be "the biggest in the history in Latvia". The competition is tough though - Latvians have an impressive climate demonstration score being organized in the late 1980's. For example, one called "Praying by the sea" exactly 31 years ago that emphasized the Baltic Sea being terribly polluted back then and gathered around 300 000 people. But no one is really fighting for record statistics, CAPITAL R still admits there are many people that are ready to take part in the climate strike this month and unite with the global youth in order to demonstrate our will to live in a environmentally safe and sustainable world.Web

How much: €€€
Electronic music festival UNDER is set up to promote the once famous underground movement and free spirit that Riga has nurtured decades ago. UNDER is designed to build a link between past and the future, and show an evolution that underground culture has gone through that time. UNDER is about celebrating and bringing back those vibes and spirit that our beloved city once pioneered and, at the same time, embracing the arrival of a new era of electronic music and artists that stand behind it that will shape the sound for many years to come.Facebook TicketsWeb

CAPITAL R is a storytelling, review, research, and multimedia local web gazette in ENGLISH. Your independent 5-minute blog on Rīga's authenticity in history and present, architecture and culture, art and underground, streets and souls.